WE TEACH HOW TO FIGHT, AND ENTERTAIN, SAYS KHALI
“You don’t want that neck to snap, do you?” growls coach Xavier Justice as he rushes into the ring. Two bulked-up men in their early 20s just attempted a bulldogging headlock, where the wrestler grabs an opponent’s head and jumps forward, so that he lands in a sitting position and drives the opponent’s face into the mat.
“No one becomes a wrestling star by dying in the practice ring,” says Justice. The 15 students standing around the ring laugh nervously.
Justice, real name Joseph Byrd, coaches 200 trainees in three batches, six days a week, at Jalandhar’s Continental Wrestling Entertainment Academy (CWE) set up by the former WWE champion The Great Khali in 2015.
They show off their skills at a weekly Saturday Night Show open to the public. Regular ‘champions’ like the 7-ft-tall Shanky Singh and Super Khalsa already have dedicated fan followings.
Shanky aka Gurvinder Singh Malhotra, 27, is a former accountant from Haryana half-teasingly called The Next Khali. Super Khalsa or Inderpreet Singh, 25 has over 15,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Justice has been head coach here for two months. Dinesh Kumar, a former CWE student, is assistant trainer.
Two women are currently training at the institute, inspired by its former student, now WWE wrestler, Kavita Devi, who trained here: Divya Aale aka Cheeni Aalia, 23, from Madhya Pradesh and Rita Rani, 26, a black belt in karate from Ludhiana. Rani aka Rita Wrestler likes to joke that she faces plenty of challenges outside the ring too.
“I commute three hours a day to and from the academy, but I’ve at least managed to convince my folks that I am going to be a famous wrestler one day,” she says.
The day here usually starts at 10 am, with 30 minutes of cardio to build endurance and stamina. The diet is customised to each student.
Professional wrestling is all about discipline and entertainment, adds Khali. “Just being strong or big won’t do. You are a performer and you need to know how to entertain, which is what we prepare them for.